Work

Recent insights into cell death and autophagy

Year: 2015

Type: review

Abstract: Macroautophagy (hereafter autophagy) is an evolutionarily-ancient mechanism by which cellular material is delivered to lysosomes for degradation. Autophagy and cell death are intimately linked. For example, both processes often use the same molecular machinery and recent work suggests that autophagy has great influence over a cell's decision to live or die. However, this decision-making is complicated by the fact that the role of autophagy in determining whether a cell should live or die goes both ways: autophagy inhibition can result in more or less cell death depending on the death stimulus, cell type or context. Autophagy may also differentially affect different types of cell death. In the present review, we discuss the recent literature that helps make sense of this apparently inconsistent role of autophagy in influencing a cell to live or die.

Source: FEBS Journal

DOI: 10.1111/febs.13515

Authors: Brent E. Fitzwalter, Andrew Thorburn

Institutions: University of Colorado Anschutz, University of Colorado Denver

Language: English

Topic: Autophagy in Disease and Therapy

Subfield: Cell Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Awards: Predoctoral Training Grant in Pharmacology, Autophagy regulation of apoptosis and necroptosis within cell populations, Therapeutic targeting of autophagy-dependent cancer